We're a little behind in our Daily News reading (with Philip on vacation).  From the Saturday/Sunday edition, however, there were some items of note.

• Becky Wolford won a contest to sing the National Anthem prior to a Muckdogs game.  She's also survived a brain tumor.  The story by Joanne Beck details her diagnosis and  efforts to fight the disease, which included much prayer and multiple surgeries. It's a fine news feature, but fails to acknowledge WBTA's role in sponsoring the contest.
• The Economic Development Center has approved a $36,000 mortgage and tax abatement to help Summit Lubricants move into the former Pepsi plant at 4-D Treadeasy Ave. Summit manufactures heavy lubricants and has been in Batavia since 1991 and its expansion will lead to 17 new jobs.
• In Lifestyles, ag reporter Tom Rivers profiles Bob Welker, a herdsman at Stein Farms, where he helps deliver calves and tend to sick cows. "It takes a special person to be herdsman because not everyone can work with sick animals every day," co-owner Dale Stein told Rivers. "You have to e willing to do everything for the animals. Maybe one in a hundred cold do it -- maybe one in a thousand.

We recommend you pick up your copy of the Daily News at a local newsstand, or subscribe on the Daily News web site.

Prior to today's Memorial Day parade on Main Street in Batavia, I handed out a few of our newly minted bumper stickers (thanks PennySaver, they look great).

It was gratifying to talk with so many people who already knew about The Batavian and mentioned how much they enjoy it and believe a site like this is needed in Batavia.

People who have heard about us mainly mentioned either our ad in the PennySaver or on WBTA.  A few people seemed to have heard about us via word of mouth.

Many people who did not know about the site eagerly took the stickers and commented that it is great to hear about such a site.

Only three people declined to take a sticker.

That's all a good sign that we're on the right track.

If you would like a bumper sticker for The Batavian, stop by Main Street Coffee.  Rob has been kind enough to let us leave a few on the counter.

Speaking of Rob's shop -- I'll be hanging out there more than usual this week.  Philip Anselmo is on vacation.

A video from today's parade will be posted shortly.

Driving to and from Batavia today I thought of what a habit it has become for me to avoid the Thruway if at all possible.

And I thought of Bill Kauffman again and his essay "Back to Batavia."

The curmudgeons carped and the mossbacks muttered, and the thruway was built. Its first casualty was Route 5, Batavia's Main Street, for years a bustling thoroughfare. Travelers ate at diners along Route 5, and slept in hotels, and shopped at stores—until progress came, and the farms were paved, and Route 5 died. Across Upstate, countless locally owned and owner-operated businesses were bankrupted. Drivers stuck to the thruway and ate at the Howard Johnson's monopoly.

In nearly two years of Western New York residence, I've found myself avoiding the Thruway more often than not.

I dislike the Thruway because:

• The smaller freeways and two-lane roads are often much more interesting, if not prettier drives and they do take you past more locally owned businesses, which generally make for more interesting stops than chains or anything you find at "service exits."  Similar thoughts and advice can be found on RocWiki.
• The toll isn't expensive, but why pay a toll if you don't have to? Besides, regular Thruway usage can add up.
• The alternative routes almost never take more time to drive.
• State Troopers.  I have nothing against law enforcement. In fact, I quite admire the men and women who wear the badge. I am, after all, an ex-cop myself.  But the State Troopers on the Thruway seem to have one job: write speeding tickets.  The Thruway is nothing but a very long speed trap.  Now, I don't speed much myself (never intentionally), but on a freeway as wide, clear, straight and devoid of traffic as I-90, Troopers running radar seem to server but one purpose: Raising money for Albany.  It's an alternative form of taxation, and it doesn't provide much representation. It's too Big Brotherish for me, so I'd rather not participate in the whole Thruway experience.

So you're much more likely to find me tooling down Route 5 than 90.

Has there ever been a "Boycott the Thruway" effort? The the Thruway seems easily avoidable, even for long trips.  So why use it?

What do you think of the Thruway?  Is it a modern transportation convenience, a necessary evil, or something that can and should be avoided as much as possible?

Previously:   Contemplating Bill Kauffman's Batavia

A one-vehicle crash in LeRoy early this morning claimed the life of Gerhard McBride, 56, of Rochester, the Genesee County Sheriff's office reported.

McBride was reportedly driving on Oatka Trail Road when his car left the road, struck a sign and several trees before coming to rest down an embankment.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

There's not much listed on the web about Memorial Day activities.

GeneseeCalendar.com lists the following event from 10:30 to 8 p.m.

Darien Lake honors the men and women that defend our country on Memorial Day Weekend! All active and veteran military personnel receive free admission and discounts for their family members. Activities include local dance groups, a tribute to Music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and other live patriotic musical performances throughout the park all weekend long. Show you’re proud to support American troops, wear Red, White or Blue!

Previously, we mentioned United Memorial holding an observance at 9 a.m.

From a United Memorial press release:

United Memorial is proud to serve as Genesee County ’s War Memorial. Memorial Day observance services have been planned for Monday, May 26^th at 9 am at the monument in front of the Hospital’s main entrance at 127 North Street , Batavia . The public is invited to attend this annual event.

Representatives of the Veterans’ Association and Gold Star family members will lay a wreath at the monument. Members of the Batavia Concert Band will also perform.

Refreshments will be available in the Hospital Board Room following the service.

June 4 FREE Smoking Cessation Classes

3 – 4 p.m., UMMC Terry Almeter Classroom, 127 North St. , Batavia . Four one-hour classes, 6/4, 11, 18 & 25, includes behavior modification skills, relaxation and stress management techniques, support advice.  Call UMMC Healthy Living at 344-5331 to register.

June 5 FREE Blood Pressure Screening

1:30-3 p.m., Every Thursday of the month, UMMC Cardiac Rehab, 215 Summit St. , Batavia

June 9, 11, 16 and 18 Diabetes Self-Management Education Program

6– 8:30 p.m. UMMC Healthy Living, 211 East Main St. Batavia . Comprehensive Diabetes Education Class to help you take care and control your diabetes. Learn about nutrition, medication, glucose monitoring and exercise/fitness.  Four 2½ hour sessions.  Call Healthy Living 344-5331 to register. Fee: $150. (covered by many insurances)

June 11 FREE Blood Pressure Screening 10 a.m.- 12 Noon, Batavia Senior Center , 2 Bank Street , Batavia

Ongoing Programs :

Cancer Services Partnership

Mammogram, clinical breast exam, self-breast exam, and Pap smear testing are available to                      women over the age of 50 who are uninsured or underinsured. Free colorectal kits available to people over 50.  Call the Cancer Services Partnership of Genesee and Orleans Counties at United Memorial at 344-5497.  lfranclemont@ummc.org

Childbirth Educational Classes

United Memorial Childbirth Classes prepare the pregnant mother and support person for the childbirth experience. Childbirth Education Program offers a six-week (two hour sessions) and a monthly eight-hour session (Friday evening and Saturday).  All classes are held in Cary Hall at 211 East Main St. , Batavia .  Call 344-5331 for more details or contact pcable@ummc.org.

MOMS Program

MOMS (Medicaid Obstetric and Maternal Service) is a prenatal education program for women who receive Medicaid or who are underinsured.  Pregnancy testing and counseling are also available. Call 344-5355 for more details or email shazlett@ummc.org.

Breast Feeding Class

Cary Hall, 211 East Main St , Batavia .  Instructor: Linda Lee Stoiber, RN, BSN, IBCLE, Lactation                Consultant. $20 fee. (may be covered by insurance) Call 344-5331 to register or for more information contact lstoiber@ummc.org.

Charles Bradley, LaVerne Cooley, Ann Emmans, Henry Emmans,  David Lange, Dawn Mark and Dick Morrison will be "Pulling out all the stops" on the St. James Organ.

To benefit the restoration of St. James bell tower.

Concert date is Sunday June 22, at 3:00 PM
St. James Church
405 East Main Street
Batavia

Free will offering
Reception to follow concert.

Submitted via the "Send Us News" link.

I've been thinking of my old home town in Southern California this morning, and Batavia.

If it seems odd that I would be thinking of two towns 3,000 miles apart, thank Bill Kauffman.

Yesterday, I sumbled upon a pair of essays Kauffman wrote in 1991 about Batavia. Here's Part I, and here's the Conclusion of "Back to Batavia."

For Kauffman, Batavia has gone to ruin -- grand old buildings destroyed, venerable local stores shuttered and chains, corporations and big media pulling residents away from a pace of life that was seemingly more connected, more rooted.

Everywhere In Batavia I found small independent businesses in retreat. The Tops grocery chain has opened a super store on West Main, and all those little corner grocers, where at three o'clock the kids liberated from school, bought pretzel sticks and Bazooka Joes and Red Hot Dollars, all those Lamberts and Wandryks and Says and Borrellis are gone, gone, gone. Mr. Quartley just died, and the Platens are hanging on, barely. And now Tops has a pizza oven, and a Domino's just opened in the K Mart Plaza, so Pontillo's and Arena's and Ficarella's and Starvin' Marvin, you'd better dig in and fight. Or maybe it would just be easier to sell out, pack the wife and kids into a U-Haul, and slink down to Florida—to a trailer-park reservation with all the other white Indians.

Kauffman calls himself a localist.  I knew very little of Kauffman before we launched The Batavian, but in an odd way -- a way I'm sure he would find very odd indeed -- he might be our godfather, or at least a good touchstone of what we need to be about.

One of Kauffman's complaints is that modern New Yorkers know little of their regional literature, so rather than assume that Batavians know who Kauffman is, let me supply some background. 

Kauffman was born in Batavia in 1959 (which makes us roughly the same age). He is a writer of books and essays, mostly on politics, social and cultural issues from a conservative/libertarian bent (which makes us roughly aligned, though there seem to be many specifics on which we diverge).  His most famous book seems to be Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette, which is about Batavia. His most recent book is Ain't My America.

Kauffman believes in small town America, and in Batavia.  I've spent my entire journalism career working for small town newspapers.  Community journalism is all I know and all I care about.

I've never said this about myself before, but I guess I'm a localist, too; albeit, one lacking the true small town roots of a Bill Kauffman.

As we've said before in The Batavian, community journalism long ago lost its small town soul.

Kauffman's own analysis isn't far from our own:

The daily newspaper has passed from the Griswolds and the McWains—fine old Republicans, how gentle that Main Street Harding hauteur seems now—to a chain. The chain sent a team of journalism school, degreed outsiders to Batavia, where they patiently instruct us in contemporary etiquette. (Let's get some foreign titles in the video store! What Batavia needs is a nice Mexican restaurant!) The editorial writers are all looking to move up and out, so the paper's leaders feature plenty of "Outlaw Pit Bulls" and "Dwarf-Tossing a National Disgrace" and "A Plan for World Peace" and nary a "Save a County Courthouse."

Yes, The Batavian is owned by a corporation that runs chain newspapers, but the goal of this project is to give back to community journalism its soul.  While neither Philip nor I currently live in Batavia (for myself, I wouldn't mind seeing that change some day, but it doesn't seem at all a realistic possibiility now), the future staff writers of The Batavian will be residents (and we hope native Batavians). 

See, I know what it's like to watch a small town lose itself in its quest for glory and riches.

That old home town I was thinking of this morning was El Cajon, a suburb now of San Diego, but once a two-hour stage coach ride from the big city, so it developed its own identity. 

We didn't move to El Cajon until I was 14, but I knew the town well because most of our extended family lived there.

My dad moved us to El Cajon so he could start a business.  He put me in the same high school he had attended.  Eventually, I would get my first daily newspaper job in El Cajon, and I would start my first entrepreneurial enterprise in El Cajon (an online community news site in 1995, which is in some ways the precursor of The Batavian.).

By the time I launched that online site, the El Cajon of my youth, the quaint small town of the 1960s through early 1980s that I knew, was gone.

The old buildings on Main and Magnolia, gone.  Empty shops dotted what was left of Main Street.

All in the name of urban renewal.

Batavia went through that, too.

Kauffman:

Batavia responded to the demise of Route 5 with an act of parricide unequaled this side of Rumania, where the demonic Ceausescu once waged war on pre-Communist architecture. The city fathers rushed headlong into urban renewal, whereby the federal government paid Batavia to knock down its past: the mansions of the founders, the sandstone churches, the brick shops, all of it (even Dean Richmond's manor, which had become an orphanage financed by Miss Edna, the city's legendary madam with a heart of gold, may she rest in peace.)

Batavia tore out—literally—its five-block heart and filled the cavity with a ghastly mall, a dull gray sprawling oasis in a desert of parking spaces. The mall was a colossal failure, but it succeeded in destroying the last vestiges of our home-run economy. J. C. Penney and Wendy's were in; the Dipson Theater and the Dagwood Restaurant were out. As our chamber of commerce might put it in one of their doggedly goofy brochures, Batavia had entered the global economy.

The mayor who stole El Cajon from me was Joan Shoemaker, who envisioned turning El Cajon -- a smoggy valley populated by factory workers and cowboys -- into the La Jolla of East County, with boutiques, quaint book stores (not that disheveled and dusty 50,000 Books I shopped in throughout high school and college years -- inset picture of now closed bookstore) and "white tablecloth restaurants" (a phrase that will be acid in my ears until I'm an old man).

It's been two years since I visited El Cajon.  Except to see my grandmother, I have no desire to go back.

The city has slipped completely into poverty and waste and ruin.  Joan Shoemaker's vision of an "East County La Jolla" has vanished behind trash on the streets and graffiti on the walls of her strip malls.  A city that once was home to modest people earning a modest living raising their families in quiet and security has been overrun by Section 8 housing and Dollar Tree stores.

Batavia is nothing like that.

And here is where Kauffman and I diverge.  There is still much about Batavia that is local.

Downtown is full of good, locally owned restaurants and stores. While pedestrian traffic is often light, it is not non-existent and plenty of people still seem to frequent the city's core.

Yes, City Center is pretty much a monstrosity, but there is still something left of old Batavia on Main Street. (I wonder if any of the former city leadership who led the charge to destroy all those grand old buildings are still around, and if they would own up to the failure of the project?) (And I should mention, the BID has done a great job with downtown, and expect to see that group yet make something useful out of City Center).

As somebody who comes from 3,000 miles away, a transplant to Western New York who thinks the region is just great and plans to spend many decades living here, I've got to say that I see no reason Batavia can't have a very local present and future.  We hope The Batavian can help encourage a vibrant localism.

And I've got to say, I'm glad I've learned about Bill Kauffman. He is my first open window into literary and historic New York.  In California, I had a grand collection of regional books, and I had explored the state thoroughly.  When I left California with an idea that I would never return, I donated those books to Matt Welch, then an editor with the Los Angeles Times and now editor of Reason Magazine (where Kauffman used to write).  Those books sit on some shelf in the Times building, I'm told. I trust they're in good hands.  Now it's time for me to learn more about, and embrace, my adopted state.

For a visual look back at old Batavia, here is a collection of pictures and one of postcards.

The departure Wednesday of the city's finance director was announced jointly with the news that the IRS had placed a lien on a city bank account owing to a "reporting error" in payroll that would have been handled by the finance office. Within hours of both announcements — following a closed-door meeting that morning — City Manager Jason Molino said that any penalties owed from the lien were revoked because the error had already been rectified.

Lickety split, Batavia was in... and out of a mess.

Yet, articles in the Daily News yesterday and today raise a few questions about the issue that still haven't been answered by the city. Molino refused to specify the error. He also said that connecting the departure of former Deputy Finance Director Shelly D'Alba with the IRS lien would be a mistake.

For sure, we must keep in mind the delicate nature of a "personnel matter" and not go smearing a city employee — with or without all the facts. There's never any excuse for slander. But that doesn't mean we don't deserve to get at the truth of the thing, find out what's going on without naming names and pointing fingers.

In an article in the Daily News today, City Council President Charlie Mallow said that "the city received several notices, sent to the person handling that" (the payroll error discovered by the IRS). And, more straightforward, reporter Joanne Beck writes: "D'Alba would have been the person to handle the filing."

In an earlier article, Molino said that his office had only recently found out about the error discovered by the IRS. That begs the question: If the city manager only found out about the problem once the IRS placed the lien on the account, what happened with the "several notices" that were sent to the city, some dating back to last spring?

Mallow said he could not speak on behalf of the city manager. An e-mail and a telephone call to Molino made earlier today have not yet been returned. Mallow did caution, however, against "connecting the dots" and relating matters that may not be directly linked.

In the same article, Mallow spoke optimistically of the current state of the city. Residents should not be worried by the recent departures. The city is in transition. Not everyone will stick around through such drastic changes, he said. Besides, the position of public works director has already been incorporated into the workload of the assistant city manager. An interim police chief should be appointed within a couple weeks. And an interim fire chief should soon follow. As for the new vacancy of deputy finance director, the city will have to wait and see, he said. For now, the responsibilities of that position will fall to the city manager and assistant city manager.

Mallow told the Daily News: "It's good to shake the apple cart about. There's no cause for concern at all. Strategic changes are planned."

There was no mention in the article of what "strategic changes" have been planned to deal with the glut of empty positions. So we asked Mallow if he could explain the connection. His response: consolidation.

"Our workforce is getting older in the city," he said. "In the next five years, we'll have 30 people who can retire. So we're at a very good point to consider consolidating."

Grants have come through to study the possibility of consolidating, merging positions, sharing responsibilities with the county and the city. Mallow feels strongly about the issue, and seems to see it as the city's way out of a future financial crisis.

"In the next five years, we'll have 30 people who can retire," he said. "So we're at a very good point to consider consolidating."

That could mean big changes for the city. Mallow:

"There might be an elimination of city borders, but that requires the town to buy in and that our finances are in order. We're pulling out of our financial problems. But a big glut of money will be needed for retirements, and insurance for our employees is something that needs to be taken care of."

In the meantime, it seems the city staff simply needs to get settled, the real responsibilities of each employee pretty clearly defined, and the public notified of just who does what down at City Hall.

Previous related posts:

• IRS lien already "corrected"...
• IRS placed a lien on a City Hall bank account
• News roundup: "Secret" meetings at City Hall

From the Daily News (Friday):

• Reporter Joanne Beck wrote an article about the several vacancies in City Hall — police and fire chiefs, public works director, finance director — with commentary from City Council President Charlie Mallow, who says that there is "no cause for concern." The Batavian is following up on a few questions raised by the article and will publish a post about the issue later this afternoon.

• Building permits are going up in the town. They are (in brief):

• For a home between 1,201 and 2,000 square feet: Up from $250 to $350, beginning June 2.
• For home additions, such as a garage, up to 325 square feet: Up from $50 to $100.
• For commercial structures up to 1,000 square feet: Up from $250 to $300.
• Swimming pools: Up from $25 to $40 (above-ground) and $50 (in-ground).

• Daily News intern Kristen Kotz wrote a fine profile of a priest, a native of Bolivia, who has been assisting and preaching to migrant workers around Batavia for 23 years. He is the Rev. Ivan Trujillo. It's a nice article. Check it out.

• The 35th annual Batavia Pageant of Bands kicks off this afternoon. The article says the first competition — in jazz — starts at 2:00pm "in the auditorium," though there is no mention of which auditorium. There is a chicken barbecue later this afternoon in the High School Cafeteria, so I assume the competitions are at the High School. See the article for a complete listing of shows.

• Batavia Boys Soccer Boosters are hosting a fundraiser to benefit the high school team and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at Applebee's, 8322 Lewiston Rd., Sunday from 8:00 to 10:00am. Proceeds from the breakfast will be split 50-50 between the two groups.

• Chamber of Commerce officials expect an increase in tourism in Genesee County this summer season. Kelly Rapone is the tourism and marketing director for the Chamber. She spoke at the county's Ways and Means Committee Wednesday, saying that high gas prices and a weak economy will not hurt tourism to the area.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

You know it's summer when carnival season starts. This year  Elba marks its 72nd Annual Onion Festival on Friday August 1st through Saturday August 2nd. The giveaway this year is a 2008 Red Ford Mustang or $18,000 in cash. The winner need not be present when the ticket is drawn on August 2nd.

Donations for tickets are as follows: $1.00 for each single ticket,$2.00 for 3 tickets,$5.00 for 7 tickets or $10.00 for a whole book of 15. These are available from any Elba Fire Dept member or write to elbamustang@yahoo.com for additional tickets. See you there !!

BataviaFuneralHomes.com contains the following message to the media:

To the Media:

The Byron-Bergen community has again experienced a great tragedy. Our community grieves over the loss of the Reis Family. On behalf of the surviving Reis family, I would like to present you with a few requests.

The memorial service is to be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Byron-Bergen High School in the Gymnasium. The family has asked that no video cameras or flash photography be used inside the building before, durring or after the service.

For your advance information, there will be no casketed remains present at the service.

They've also posted the following obituaries:

• Cheryl Reis
• Timothy Reis
• Emily Reis
• Virginia Reis

Marianne Clattenburg looks at her city and sees all the benefits you would find in a metropolis — a symphony, appreciation for the arts, great restaurants — yet there is very little of the violent crime and squalor that makes big city living a risk. It's a perfect fit.

"I have a strong belief that we have a strong community and a very nice place to live and I want to keep the quality of life we've had," she says. "I'm guarded about how we cut things, what we cut."

Marianne joined the City Council in April of last year, took the seat for the Second Ward vacated by her predecessor who had left town. She was then elected to the position in November. So why would this mother of two and grade school teacher want to take on the often burdensome chore of running a city?

"I was afraid that with the taxes and budget where it was that we would cut so much from Batavia that the quality of life would not be the same," she says. "You have to have a certain quality of life in the city, otherwise there's no impetus for living in the city. You have to have that feeling of what you want the city to be and living there as a positive experience."

Marianne calls herself a moderate. She isn't so naive that she doesn't realize a city needs to spend money to get the kind of services that make it liveable. But that doesn't mean that there isn't some fat to be trimmed.

"It's just like the private sector has been doing since the downsizing of the '80s," she says. "We want to try to do the same with a smaller government."

No surprise, then, that Marianne supports consolidation, for the most part.

"New York has those issues of overlapping of government services," she says. "That's a testament of how old the state is. Over the years government has just grown and grown."

Marianne teaches the third grade at St. Joseph's School. (They hatched these chicks, here to the left, just yesterday.) She has only been there full-time for a year, though she has been teaching since 1982 as a substitute, while she raised her two daughters, both now in college — one for psychology, one for pre-law.

Now that she has done "all the mom stuff," as she says, it's time to step up and tackle the public business. Namely, consolidating, shrinking things down without sacrificing those things that make Batavia great.

"Sometimes consolidation isn't the panacea that you think it's going to be, but I'm sure there areas where consolidation is the way to go," she says. "The tax base is not what it used to be in Batavia, and everybody knows that. We have an aging city, aging water system."

"Where there's a willingness to do it, there has to be openness to pursue it."

The Times-Union reports on a trucker fuel protest and includes a quote from a Batavia-based drier.

Bill Sutton, a trucker from Batavia in western New York, said his truck gets 5 to 5 1/2 miles per gallon. The 300-mile trip to the Capital Region costs him $300 in fuel alone.

He’s avoiding the Thruway whenever possible because “tolls are just ridiculous,” he added. “Do I eat or drive the Thruway?”

A reader comment seems to take direct aim at Sutton's quote:

So to protest high gas prices, truckers took their gas-sucking rigs on a joyride down the Northway? Okay, now it makes sense to me. . .

And you have to wonder, if the more stop-and-go of long-distance non-Thruway driving, and probably longer distance to travel, is Sutton really saving money?  I suppose that depends on how long his routes are.

Yes, high gas prices create serious reverberations throughout the economy, but are the politicians in Albany really in a position to do anything about it?

UPDATE: More from Sutton in this article:

Bill Sutton, of Batavia, said he spent $70,200 on fuel last year when the average cost per gallon of diesel was $3. He expects to spend close to double that total this year. His truck gets about 5.5 miles to the gallon.

“I’ve worked more weekends already this year than I did the last five years together,” the 43-year-old Sutton said. “I was in Florida last weekend. I’m working harder than ever trying to keep up with the bills.”

He said he bought his tractor and hauls trailers for Path Truck Lines which has several offices, including one in Schuylerville.

“I’ll be going to Schuylerville this afternoon and then to Fort Miller to pick up an oversized load of concrete for delivery first thing in the morning near Rochester.”

He said he’s been an owner/operator for 10 years, and when he bought his truck diesel was about $1 a gallon.

“A truck costs $137,000 and I have a mortgage on this,” he said. “Fuel is costing me $3,000 a week. A new set of tires is $4,500. I change my own oil every five weeks and that’s $175 because it takes 10 gallons of oil.”

He said shops charge about $250 to change the oil on a rig. His front tires last 150,000 miles and his back tires about 320,000 miles.

“I change the front tires every fall at a cost of about $850 plus installation,” he said. “If fuel goes to $6 a gallon, I don’t think I can hang on.”

A few changes to The Batavian this afternoon.

The most visible is the "Submit News" button on the upper right of the home page.

While posting to a blog or leaving a comment requires site registration, we recognize that not everybody who might have news to share wants to register with the web site.  This form is a way for you to submit news either as a non-registered user, or when you don't want it to be part of your blog.

News can be anything from a crime you witnessed in your neighborhood to a civic group event announcement.

The "Submit News" also gives you the ability to send in anonymous news tips, if you need to remain anonymous for any reason.

Keep in mind, that if you submit anonymous news, we won't just publish it without verification, and if we can't contact you (leaving off contact information is an option), it may be harder to verify the tip.

The other important change can be found at the bottom of the web site, in what we call the "footer," where we added links to our Creative Commons license, our privacy policy and our terms of service (which include the rules we ask all users to follow when participating in The Batavian).

There are lots more changes coming to The Batavian over the next months, even of the next years.  A good web site is never a finished web site.

GenFireWire.com has a collection of 30 photos from Monday's apartment fire in Byron that claimed four lives.

The photos show both the devestation of the apartment building as well as the efforts of area firefighters to battle the blaze.

From the Daily News (Thursday):

• City Manager Jason Molino told the Daily News that the city has narrowed the field of candidates to two for the position of interim police chief. There is no mention of the names of the candidates in the article. The position of fire chief will be vacant as of this weekend. Current Chief Larry Smith retires Friday. Molino said that the city has not yet chosen a temporary candidate to hold the position until an interim candidate is appointed followed by a permanent replacement. Aso vacant is the position of code enforcement officer, which will likely not be filled until later this summer.

• A report of the departure of Deputy Finance Director Shelly D'Alba is reported today. That story was covered by WBTA and The Batavian yesterday. Also reported on the front page is the upcoming technology conference at Genesee Community College, first noted on The Batavian some weeks ago. Go to the GCC site for more information.

• The town approved pursuing state permission for a pair of water districts last night. Some financing could come through federal grants and loans for rthe two districts: about 14,830 feet of main for the Rose Road district at a cost of about $658,000; and about 11,300 feet of main for the Alexander-Pike district at a cost of about $1,175,200. In other business, the town approved "a shared services agreement with the town of Byron for code enforcement officer coverage when needed," writes reporter Roger Muehlig.

• Genesee Community College student Briana Coogan-Bassett was awarded the Virginia Carr Mumford Scholarship from the Batavia Society of Artsits. For more about Briana and other artists featured at the art show at Richmond Memorial Library, check out the article by John Loyd.

• Batavia Blue Devils girls track won their seventh straight title in the Monroe County League Division III. The Blue Devils beat East Ridge 129-12 yesterday to go to 35-0 in the league.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Well we are off....seems like only yesterday when I was taking down the remnants of forgotten Christmas lights left on trees outside and now it is the official first weekend of the 'summer season".  I spent a good time this morning working and preparing and packing to go off to our summer place....a small, modest camp near Warsaw.  It seemed like I was packing more than usual.  Could be because I need heavy, warm things in my travel sack....not the usual shorts and sandles.  Let's see....if it gets down to 40 again tonight....How many pairs of socks will I need?  All this and I LIKE camping.

I do admit that camping now is not like it used to be.  The kids and I would rough it with three tents...two people in each, and sleeping bags.  I still would enjoy that type of camping but I am not sure that my back, bum leg and sciatica would appreciate it.  So, we are more gentile now.   We have our home away from home....of course complete with all the electronics, TV, furnace, hot water, microwave, CD/VCR player and lets not forget the "garden tub".  I did say "NO" when it came time to pay for the Jacuzzi Tub.   Seemed to be the height of decadence at the time and it would mean I would have to remove my fantastic skylight.... Now I am not so sure......hmmm? 

So today I go off for the first of several family rendevous of the summer.  Bag packed, extra socks, sweatshirts and long johns......not a swimsuit to be seen... and a car full of stuff that is good to eat as well as the much needed chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers.  I do intend on eating well and often this weekend.  I will need the calories to combat the cold.  The rest of the family will drift in over the next two days....a few today, a few more tomorrow....and finally....just when I have cleaned my last corner of the camper, put out all the camper stuff and planted the last annual flower they all will appear.  Oh... let's not forget the cord of firewood I ordered that needs to be stacked.

I declare when all is said and done...I still love to camp in my own little corner of paradise....I just wish this year paradise was going to be a bit warmer.  Oh and the next time Jacuzzi Tub is mentioned with its18 pulsating jets....Hit me on the head if I say "no thanks".  It is the least you can do.....  It wouldn't be camping without it.

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.....and remember.....it is important to reflect on those that have sacrificed so that we can have what we have..... Give thanks to them all.